HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	186
THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2024
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE RESOLUTION

 

 

requesting the office of the administrative director of the courts to collect, compile, and share data on the assessment of fees, court costs, fines, and restitution in cases against minors.

 

 

     WHEREAS, research shows that charging fees, fines, costs, and restitution to youth is harmful to young people and their families; and

 

     WHEREAS, in the State, these consequences disproportionately fall on Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, and Black youth, who are more likely to be arrested, detained, and unable to afford fees, fines, costs, and restitution; and

 

     WHEREAS, although state law authorizes courts to charge youth and their families a range of fees and fines, judges across the state rarely impose such costs in practice; and

 

     WHEREAS, research shows that fees and fines serve no public safety function and may instead undermine public safety by increasing the likelihood of youth recidivism; and

 

     WHEREAS, because youth cannot afford to pay restitution, crime survivors rarely see any compensation for harm they may have experienced; and

 

     WHEREAS, jurisdictions in the majority of states that assess fees, costs, fines, and restitution to youth spend more money trying to collect those outstanding debts than they receive in revenue; and

 

     WHEREAS, there is a growing consensus that fees and fines should not be assessed for mistakes made in a person's youth, regardless of the age or jurisdiction in which the person is adjudicated or sentenced; and

 

     WHEREAS, several states throughout the country have prohibited the imposition of fees and limited the impact of restitution on young people and their families; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirty-second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2024, that the Office of the Administrative Director of the Courts is requested to collect, compile, and share data on the assessment of fees, court costs, fines, and restitution in cases against minors; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the data is requested to include:

 

     (1)  The total and annual average amounts of fees, court costs, fines, and restitution that are assessed, collected, waived, and outstanding in cases against minors for each of the last five years; and

 

     (2)  For the circuit, family, and district courts in each judicial district, a description of each fee, court cost, or fine that can be assessed in cases against  minors, and their respective amounts; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Office of the Administrative Director of the Courts is requested to submit a report of its findings and recommendations to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2025; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Chief Justice of the Hawaii Supreme Court and Administrative Director of the Courts.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

 

 

 

Report Title: 

Office of the Administrative Director of the Courts; Youth; Data; Fees; Fines; Court Costs; Restitution